


the beast that i'm fighting (well, i'm not the only one)

by BeesKnees



Series: Offspring [3]
Category: Biohazard | Resident Evil (Gameverse)
Genre: Adding some Plot to my PWP, Canon-Typical Violence, Chris and Leon's son, Implied Mpreg, M/M, References to dub-con, Rescue Operation Gone Right, Wesker's Creep Levels Decrease Significantly
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-08
Updated: 2020-04-11
Packaged: 2021-03-02 03:46:53
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 10,609
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23538577
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BeesKnees/pseuds/BeesKnees
Summary: It's been 10 months since Albert Wesker took Leon Kennedy, and Leon is pretty sick of this shit.
Relationships: Leon S. Kennedy/Chris Redfield
Series: Offspring [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1688584
Comments: 30
Kudos: 143





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I don't think there's literally anyway for the timeline of this to make sense in relation to canon. Don't @ me.

“Hunnigan?” 

“ _Leon_?”

Leon knows from her tone of voice that they had given up on hearing from him again. He's been assumed dead or worse. Probably worse, given that everyone has to know that it's Wesker who took him. 

Leon closes his eyes for a moment at the sound of her voice and the sound of his name. He's known exactly how tired he is, but he hadn't expected to feel this unmade just by a familiar voice. It's too early to be falling apart now. He has a long, _long_ way to go yet, he knows. Getting a transmission is only step one, and it had taken him a hell of a long time to figure out how to do that without Wesker immediately noticing. 

“Yes,” he answers shortly, getting himself refocused. “Hunnigan, can you trace this?” Even now, he hasn't been able to find a good landmark to guide anyone to him. Wesker may come and go from the facility, but precious little else does. It's been built to be self-sustaining, and Leon knows there's some kind of camouflage tech coating the outside of the building that even he doesn't fully understand. Wesker went full villain for this.

“Yes,” Hunnigan confirms, and Leon lets out a breath of relief, resting his head against the desk he's currently crouched under.

“That's where I am,” Leon says, “where I've been. He hasn't moved me.” He pauses. “So, you know, if someone could come get me, that'd be great.”

“Of course,” Hunnigan says, all business as if this is just any other day for them. Leon glances at the clock on the wall and calculates he has another five minutes before this turns risky. So, he starts to divulge as much information as he can: the limited building layout he knows, the advanced tech that he's seen, and the types of security and BOWs he knows are here. It feels good for his mind to be working like this. He feels almost like himself for the first time since Wesker threw a canister at his feet and unmade his world.

Leon looks back at the clock. Sixty seconds.

“Hunnigan,” he says. “We'll need a team. Not just the DSO.” He knows the BSAA has to already be involved, so he doesn't expect this to be a tall order. “Make _sure_ that Chris Redfield and Jill Valentine are on that team. They make it personal for Wesker, and that makes him more arrogant, and that's the only chance we have of him getting sloppy.” 

“I don't think--” Hunnigan starts to say, but Leon doesn't stop talking. He tells her about the virus Wesker injects into himself, knowing that there's no definite way that Chris or Jill might be able to find it, much less get it into Wesker, but it's a potential weakness, and Leon is going to give them whatever he can. 

“And, listen, Hunnigan,” Leon says this part very clearly, because he knows he's about to be monumentally unfair to her. “Make sure the team is set up to evac 13 kids.” He hangs up, his pulse pounding. 

He knows if he gives anyone a chance to start asking questions about the kids, they'll never stop, and the BSAA and DSO will never agree to get them out of the facility. 

…

This is a hell of an operation. It's been awhile since this many DSO agents and BSAA officers got together willingly. Chris isn't sure if they would be here if Leon hadn't specified in his now infamous call that they send him and Jill.

Chris knows for sure that _he_ wouldn't be here. 

The BSAA had worried that it had been a trap for them – that Leon had been flipped, knowingly or not, and was trying to get their best soldiers, including Jill and Chris, in the door where Wesker could take them apart at his whim.

The United States still sees Chris as partially at fault for the incident in the first place, and a lot of the BSAA had agreed that Chris was too compromised to go on this mission and be expected to function capably and rationally. 

Chris knows they might even be right. 

But Jill had dug in her feet about Chris going, and Hunnigan had grown more sure in her conviction that Leon hadn't been compromised and that his intel was good. So, President Benford had relented. He had sent Hunnigan, a team of five DSO agents, and a transcript of the call and the information they had gleaned from it to BSAA headquarters. The president had even been there for the first day of meetings, underlining just how important it was for the American team to bring Agent Leon S. Kennedy home. 

And Chris has been warned within an inch of his life. The DSO is in charge. The BSAA is to follow their lead. Jill is in charge of the BSAA team. He is to follow her lead. If he isn't disciplined to a T when it comes to these orders, his ass will never be in the field again, founding member of BSAA and living legend or not. 

He nods and stays in line, because he isn't going to give anyone a reason to doubt him. He's getting Leon Kennedy back, he's proving that this is the job that he was made to do, and they're both putting the mess of this fucking year behind them. 

If Chris gets to kill Wesker on top of that, so much the better. 

So much of this feels like any other mission. Reviewing the location and the limited blueprints of what they have, what gear to bring, and who will be entering where and when, extraction routes, and emergency contingency plans. 

And then there's part of it that feels like nothing else. Some part of that is that it's Leon. But a lot of it has to do with the supposed kids that Leon had alluded to. 

Everybody looks and tries not to look at Chris whenever that part comes up. It's humiliating in the way the last 10 months have been. Everyone in this room knows that Wesker said that the virus Leon and Chris had been infected with had allowed Chris to fertilize something in Leon. They all have seen the picture of Leon's torso with the misshapen stomach. They've seen the stills from the end of when Wesker called Chris to taunt him again, rows of filled baby cribs showing in the blurred pixels of the background.

If there are kids in that facility – and Leon is saying there are 13 – they're all Wesker experiments, which means that they could be all shades of dangerous. It's been suggested that this is even a scheme for the newest BOWs to be released or tested. 

It's difficult to construct a plan of attack when they don't know how human these children may be. It's even more difficult because one of these kids might be made of something monstrous between two of their own. 

These kids uncomfortably straddle two worlds, and the BSAA and DSO are accustomed to protecting one of those world from the other. 

They want to be able to trust that Leon isn't compromised by what he went through and that there are simply babies with strange origins that need to be picked up. But they also have to plan for the more likely reality that Leon can't see clearly in the situation and that he's surrounded by weapons. 

Chris says absolutely fucking nothing during these discussions. It's not hard, because he has no idea what to think. These are the ways in which people are right that he's compromised: but he knows that, so he shuts up, and he listens and particularly to Jill, just like he's been told to do. 

But the night before they're set to storm the facility, Chris' thoughts won't quiet. He's afraid. He's afraid in a way that's new and different to him, because he's afraid that he might have helped break Leon Kennedy beyond human capability and he's going to have to reap that tomorrow. He's afraid that there might just be a baby in that facility that's part him, part Leon, and, undoubtedly, part Wesker. He's afraid that there's a monster in there that he helped make. The latter would maybe be easier. It's something that's solved at the end of a gun, and that's a solution that Chris has learned well. 

Chris closes his eyes and tells himself that he can't afford to have opinions on offspring. He's going to have to shoot tomorrow when he's told to shoot. He's going to have to take people into custody tomorrow when he's told. 

He listens to Leon's recording again. His voice has the intensity and focus of the Leon Kennedy they all know. 

_So, you know, if someone could come get me, that'd be great._

_Make_ sure _that Chris Redfield and Jill Valentine are on that team._

_Make sure the team is set up to evac 13 kids._

Chris throws up before takeoff the next morning.

…

Leon paces back and forth in his room. Gunfire started 20 minutes ago on one of the upper levels. It has to be the BSAA and the DSO. The timeframe is right, he thinks. A few days to get all the pieces in place to come and get him. 

But Leon's certainty has degraded in the time that he's been on his own again.There are just so many ways this could all go wrong, and Leon can do so very little while he's still locked in this room. He's not made for this sort of inaction. These last few days have been almost as bad as when he had first gotten here and had watched with horrified rage as his body had betrayed him and aligned itself with Wesker.

He tries to convince himself, for the umpteenth time, that whatever happens has to be better than the current situation. The team could just firebomb the building and kill everyone inside, and it would have to be better. Leon thinks. 

“Clear!” 

Leon turns at the sound of the voice – which is very near now. There's the pounding of boots on this floor, doors being thrown open. Leon is the last one left on this floor now, though. He goes a little shaky with adrenaline, so fucking ready to be _out of this goddamn room._

He takes a step back from the door and waits; a moment later, a big BSAA boot kicks it in. Leon raises his hands as two BSAA soldiers step inside, guns at the ready. He's never been so excited and nervous to see the BSAA. This is his side, coming to get him. But he knows he's going to have to convince them he's still on their side.

He can feel the pause as their eyes land on him and realize they've found him. He can only imagine the stories they've heard about him and what's happened to him here. It's almost a relief that everything is chaotic still, because it leaves Leon little room to be mortified. 

“We've located Agent Kennedy,” someone radios over, and Leon nearly flinches at the sound of his title. He's fairly ready to never be called “Agent Kennedy” again for the rest of his life, thanks to Wesker. He hears the response – Hunnigan – asking on his status. 

“A shirt and a gun would be great,” Leon answers. He's essentially wearing nothing besides a pair of sweatpants. 

His easygoing demeanor, luckily, cracks some of the strain for the soldiers surrounding him. He knows they've probably been instructed on how to deal with him – more victim than anything else, but a close eye toward treachery. But Leon isn't about to just sit on his ass and be carried away to safety. 

A DSO agent and a BSAA operative are left with Leon while the rest of the team continues to clear the floor.

“Have you located Wesker?” Leon asks as he pulls on the offered shirt and vest. Apparently, no spare boots, but Leon supposes he'll survive. 

“Valentine and Redfield have engaged him on the roof,” the DSO agent confirms. 

Leon feels his heart skip a beat. He has to check himself. This is what they do. Wesker is no more than another BOW to take down. It's time to get to work.

“Did they get the virus off the second-floor lab?” Leon asks. 

“No.”

“I know where it is now,” Leon says. “Let's move.” If anyone thinks that's a bad idea, they don't argue with him, and Leon finds that that's a fucking relief. He heads down the hallway that has been nearly the entire extent of his world for the past 10 months. He hopes he gets to firebomb this place when they're finished.

He takes the stairs up two floors. He's never been to this floor himself, but one of the kids had gotten up the day after Leon had made his distress call to Hunnigan. She hadn't been able to understand a lot of what she had seen, but she had been able to tell Leon enough – the kids were routinely taken to the labs on the third floor, and Leon could describe that almost effortlessly despite having been there only a handful of times. But the second floor was Wesker's domain – a mystery until now. Anything that wasn't related to the kids – which meant Wesker's personal business – was handled here. Including the synthesis and injections of the virus that Wesker hadn't hidden quite well enough. 

Leon's head continues to clear as they move, everything narrowing down to this singular focus. Stop Wesker. 

They burst into the lab with little issue, the security guarding having been taken down as the building was stormed. Leon flies across the counter space until he finds the silver briefcase – not even fucking locked, because Wesker had just gotten so comfortable in this facility. Leon slides one of the injections out.

“You're a sniper?” he asks, turning to the BSAA soldier.

“Piers Nivans, sir,” the sniper confirms, nodding his head respectfully. 

“Let's go take down the bad guy, shall we?” Leon asks. After he had contacted Hunnigan, he had been worried that this was one of the things they wouldn't believe him about. He isn't even entirely sure it will make a difference, but he's also concerned that, if they think he's compromised, that he might be trying to inject Wesker with something to help him. 

If that's a conversation that's happened, it doesn't show on Nivans' face. He just nods and leads Leon back toward the stairs. They head up, past the first floor, and past the main level of the roof. Piers takes them to the highest point of the building and they step outside.

It's the first time Leon has had fresh air in 10 months, and he's nearly dizzy with it and the sunlight for a moment. He wishes that he could close his eyes and just breathe. But there's no time. 

Below them, Wesker is squared off from Chris and Jill. The helicopter they came in is circling above but no longer taking shots. In front of them, Wesker moves with the easy fluidity and grace of a dancer. He swerves out of the way of Chris' and Jill's shots, throwing them across the roof and into each other. Jill and Chris just can't keep up.

“You mind?” Leon asks, holding a hand out to Piers for a rifle. And Piers – bless him – hands it over. Leon keeps one eye on the fight below as he loads the needle into the gun. Breathing out, he brings his eye to the scope and lets everything else fade away.

He watches Wesker continue to dart across the roof, waiting for the opening for his shot. After months of churning anger against this man, everything inside Leon goes quiet and still.

Wesker slams Chris into the concrete and drags him before lifting him up just by his throat. Wesker is sneering, still taunting Chris after all this time. Jill is down on the other side of the roof, so Wesker remains where he is for longer than usual to bait Chris, thinking he's incapable of being defeated.

Wesker doesn't know about Leon.

And Leon exhales and fires. 

The needle flies through the air with precision and jams into the side of Wesker's neck before Wesker's able to process that there's something coming toward him. He drops Chris, who crumples to the ground, holding his throat and coughing.

Wesker jerks the needle out of his neck and, realizing what it is, he snarls. He looks across the roof and finds Leon with ease, the rage building on his face when he sees exactly who it is that has shot him.

Leon raises his right hand and flips Wesker the bird. 

“ _Kennedy!_ ” Wesker roars, and Leon is savagely pleased that Wesker will know that it's _him_ that was part of Wesker's undoing. 

On the ground, Chris kicks Wesker in the knee, and it buckles beneath him. Wesker seems to try to dodge, but his movements go jerky. Chris stumbles to his feet while Jill races across the roof to join him. Chris plants a boot in Wesker's chest and seems satisfied to find that Wesker isn't going anywhere anymore. 

Chris lowers the muzzle of his gun to in between Wesker's eyes and fires until his clip is empty. 

At the same moment, yards apart, Leon and Chris both start to breathe again. 

“Wesker is down,” Piers says over the comm. “Repeat, Wesker is down.” 

“Confirmed,” comes the response. “We're about to enter the fifth floor.”

All of Leon's relief evaporates. 

“No, wait--” he tries to protest. Over the comms comes an ungodly screaming, and Leon watches as every DSO and BSAA operative in the vicinity reacts to it. Piers grabs his earpiece out without thinking about it, and below, Chris and Jill both flinch. Underneath that layer of deep, reverberating noise, Leon can hear the soldiers below beginning to panic.

“Ben,” Leon breathes, and he darts back down the stairs. 

…

Chris stares down at the ruined mess of Wesker's face and feels … nothing. He waits for feeling to come back. This was supposed to be it. This was supposed to his moment of redemption, taking back everything that Wesker had taken from him – enacting justice on the man who has singularly caused him more pain than anyone else. 

Jill touches his elbow gently, and he looks up at her, wanting to ask why he doesn't feel better. There's a sadness in her eyes that Chris doesn't fully understand and he thinks that sadness might be for _him_ \--

Before either of them can say a word to the other, their comms explode with sound. It takes literal seconds to clear, leaving Chris' ear ringing with white noise.

“What the fuck was that?” Chris asks Jill. There's panic filling their ears now and, above that, someone manages to shout, “Kennedy is on his way down!”

Chris spins and, sure enough, Leon is gone from the position he'd held across the roof and above them. Everything inside of Chris is screaming to get into that basement. But he holds position and looks to Jill.

She looks between him and Wesker's ruined body, and she seems satisfied with what she sees. She nods at Chris.

“We're heading in,” she radios. 

Chris is back inside and flying down the stairs before Jill even finishes the words.

…

Leon is breathless by the time he makes it to the fifth floor. He careens off the wall in the stairwell and into the hallway, still afraid that he's too late. 

As he arrives, the majority of the team stationed there jerk their guns up, alarmed, and Leon knows it's probably a miracle and a half that he doesn't have 15 different bullets in him all at once. 

“Wait,” Leon says, trying to pull in a full breath. He holds up his hands again to show he's not a threat. But the tentative peace he'd brokered with Piers Nivans is splintering under the weight of the rest of the team finding the kids. It doesn't matter that he's helped to take down Wesker, because Ben has them scared shitless. 

The soldiers had just moved down to continue clearing floors, but the fifth floor is where the kids stay almost all of the time. It's where their bedrooms are and the classrooms and anything else that Wesker thought was necessary for them to play house while they were here. 

Twelve of them are inside the main playroom, huddled together in the far corner, hiding from the loud strangers who have appeared in their midst.

Of course, the 13th stands in the doorway to the playroom, his little body planted with defiance, a buffer between the strangers and his siblings. Ben has Leon's eyes. But when he's angry like this, all the parts that are Chris come out in starker contrast: that broad nose, dark eyebrows, and the little jaw that promises to be square. He looks around three, but Leon has come to understand that aging means almost nothing when it comes to the kids. Their physical bodies are growing at three or four times the rate of an average human. There's no scale with which to measure their abilities, and Leon always seems to be at a loss when it comes to their intelligence. They're kids in so many ways, eager to learn and unknowing about most of the world. But they glean things in a way that Leon thinks is beyond most children.

At the other end of the hallway, through the opposite stairwell, Chris and Jill arrive. 

Normally, Leon would think this is the last thing the situation needs. But their appearance has everyone turning their guns away from Ben, so something in Leon's chest loosens for half a second.

Ben has tears in his eyes and his hands are balled at his sides. Leon knows he's on the verge of screaming again – Leon doesn't know the science of it, but it hurts when Ben screams. Leon doesn't doubt that Ben will one day be able to kill someone with the sound. Right now, Leon doesn't think he's capable of it. But he's not particularly interested in finding out the extent of his son's abilities at the moment. 

Chris and Jill join the fringes of the group, weapons drawn, trying to see what the situation is. 

Ben scrunches his eyes closed and draws in a long, threatening breath.

“Benjamin,” Leon says sharply, taking half a step forward, hyper aware of the way that guns are refocusing. 

But no one shoots and Ben opens his eyes, so Leon takes another half step forward. 

“Ben, you're not in danger,” Leon says, trying to coax his son away from the main circumstance he's been told is okay to use his debilitating screams. He really hopes the words will also reach the soldiers – that they need to not make Ben feel like he's in danger and that he needs to protect himself.

Ben's brow furrows. He looks doubtingly at Leon and then at all the men surrounding them.

“Are you in danger?” he asks, still working through his criteria. 

“No, I'm not in danger,” Leon promises. He takes another step toward Ben and then holds out a hand, signaling for his son to come to him. And Ben does. He relents in his fear and gives in to his instinct to trust the only parent he's ever known. 

Leon kneels, still holding his breath, and Ben walks into his waiting arms, shoving his face into Leon's neck. Leon hugs him tightly and then stands, hoisting him up. He's hopeful that with Ben in his arms, they'll be less likely to shoot him.

He looks at the silent group surrounding him, feeling the very disparate parts of his life come together. This is the part that he knew he couldn't prepare himself for.


	2. Chapter 2

The first few days in Wesker's facility had objectively been the worst. He'd been sick from the virus that Wesker infected him with – _still_ outrageously desperate to be fucked again, which had only heightened his awareness that Chris wasn't with him. He'd been at war with himself, outraged by his body giving way when his mind was still mostly his. He'd gone over every fucking inch of that cell of a room plotting on how to get out.

And then, of course, mere days after arriving, he'd started to feel the _thing_ that Wesker had promised – had taunted him with every second they were near each other. That he was carrying a new type of BOW. 

It had felt like the plaga but worse. Every day had brought a new horror, because Leon could feel the thing squirming and growing inside of him, stretching his already rearranged insides. He'd battered himself trying to get the thing to stop growing, but it hadn't. It was strong, and it grew faster than Leon would have thought. He had nightmares about a Tyrant or a Licker or any number of things inside of him, tearing its way out of him. 

And then Ben came.

And Leon wouldn't ever be able to say that anything about the situation was normal. Because Leon had been more fucking terrified than he'd ever been in his entire life, and he very much wanted to die in that lab rather than see whatever it was they were pulling out of him. 

It wasn't a Tyrant or a Licker or any other nightmare. It was a baby that looked human. Even if Leon had known that it couldn't possibly be fully human. 

He hadn't loved Ben then. Ben hadn't been Ben just yet then. He'd been B01W, and he'd been examined by Wesker and taken away. And Leon had figured that he would never see the baby-like creature again and that Wesker would, mercifully, just kill Leon and be done with him. Maybe send his head over to Chris as a parting shot.

He knew there were other people on the floor in the same state that he was in. He never met any of them, but Wesker never could pass up the chance to gloat. He had 13 babies, their DNA intertwined perfectly with Wesker's new virus, all of them primed to be super powerful and formed by Wesker to take over the world in their father's name. To cull the current human race and elevate Wesker to the status of a god. To blah blah blah. Leon grew sick of the sermons quickly. 

Leon knew that Wesker got rid of the other hosts once the babies arrived. But Leon, he kept, not hiding that he did it simply to drive Chris mad. 

On one particularly memorable morning, Leon had told Wesker that his obsession with Chris was going to get him killed one day, and Wesker had punched him so hard that Leon thought he'd cracked a rib, and still Leon had smiled a shit-eating smile, because any moment he annoyed Wesker was a joyous one. That was the same day that Wesker had drugged Leon again and called Chris to let him know how things were going. 

Leon was constantly needling Wesker, aiming to be a pain in the ass, and maybe that would have been the end of Leon if it hadn't been for Ben's screaming. 

Wesker could wax philosophical all he wanted about creating life and then molding it fit to him and his intentions. Maybe he even believed that his super-powered babies would come out and be above the paltry needs of human infants. But mostly, they were babies who fussed and cried for any number of inexplicable reasons throughout the day. And even though Wesker had an army of scientists and lackeys there to care for the babies, the actual _caring_ seemed to be something of a blindspot to a group of people who suddenly found themselves exacerbated with the fact that their master plan involved coordinating changing diapers and giving bottles. 

They were wary of dealing with the abilities of these super-powered babies when they didn't always know what to expect and the babies couldn't exactly be reasoned with. Such as having a near supersonic cry at 3 in the morning that kept the entire nursery awake. 

B01W was delivered back to Leon on that particular night in a last-ditch effort. Wesker might have hated each and every one of those babies by that point, but Leon knew he was too proud to abandon this project – not when the “W” stamped at the end of code name stood for “Wesker.”

B01W, who had apparently just wanted to be held, had settled the moment that he was in Leon's arms. And that was really when he stopped being B01W and started being Ben. 

Ben was kicked out of the nursery most nights and wound up beside Leon in his cell. He cooed at Leon when he was brought. It just got harder and harder every night to see him as only a BOW when he seemed so human and so enamored with Leon and so intent on sharing everything that his new, little world entailed with Leon. 

And, admittedly, it was kind of funny to watch another Redfield so effortlessly piss Wesker off. 

And slowly that situation extended beyond Ben to the other babies who were handed off to Leon when they were too fussy or extreme. The babies seemed to be able to communicate with each other early on, and the ones that didn't spend time with Leon purposefully fussed, so it was just decided that Leon would spend a large chunk of each day with the kids who were, after all, probably too young to be properly primed for world destruction and domination quite yet. 

So it was Leon who learned who they were and gave them names from codes that Wesker had originally given them. The children went to their labs every other day and Wesker could have written theses on each of the biological aspects of their abilities – their profound reflexes, speed, strength, and healing -- but it was Leon who was interacting with them. It was Leon who knew that heightened healing didn't stop the kids from crying over scraped knees and that increased memory retention didn't make them want to sit in classrooms anymore than they naturally would have. All the while Wesker thought that he'd simply conned Leon into the degrading task of nursemaid. 

The older they got, the more painfully they reminded Leon of Sherry. He'd never regretted protecting her, so it wasn't hard to make the decision that these 13 kids were more his than Wesker's and he was going to give them a fucking chance at having a normal life.

But first that meant getting them out the facility and some place safe.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all so much for the comments and support so far! They have truly meant a lot to me, and I hope you enjoy this latest update.

This is fucking unreal. 

Despite all of his fretting and worrying, he wasn't prepared for this in the slightest. To be fair, Chris knew that. How could this be prepared for?

But the sight of Leon with the kid is just like a train barreling into him. He couldn't string together a coherent thought in that moment, much less follow an order, his BSAA status mostly stripped or not. 

Chris can't imagine how Leon kept his shit together all these months, because Chris is losing it after 10 seconds of being inside this building. The kid is just so obviously his. It has to be obvious to the rest of the team, but Chris knows that he's the spitting image of Chris when he was around that age – 3? 4? Chris isn't sure, and his mind argues that the timeframe alone makes this mess impossible. But they passed the line of “possible” years ago.

“I will bring them out one by one,” Leon says, taking charge in the vacuum of stunned silence and uncertainty. The kid in his arms is still clinging to him, and Leon proceeds as if this a normal operation when it's anything but. 

“The manipulation of sound waves is the most dangerous ability you will encounter among them,” Leon says as if giving a neutral report. “They all have heightened speed, strength, and healing capabilities, but none of them are trained in any combat. They'll only try and protect themselves and each other as any young kid would. 

“The third-floor labs will contain all of their medical records and should be retrieved and taken back to BSAA headquarters. Each of the kids will have a blacklight tattoo on the back of their left hand that will match the corresponding file name and anything else in the building related to them.”

He pauses.

“Does anyone have any questions?” He looks around the circle of soldiers surrounding him, and his gaze doesn't linger on Chris any longer than any other person, but Chris still feels his heartbeat pick up. 

If Leon is nervous that anyone is going to go against the plan he has laid out, he doesn't show it. 

There's only an extra beat of time before the DSO agent in charge of the mission answers, “No, sir.” 

Leon looks them over once again, searching for any visible doubt, but he doesn't seem to find it.

“All right,” Leon says. He puts the boy down, who seems reluctant to relinquish his hold on Leon, but Leon kneels in front of him. 

“Ben, this is Piers,” he says, looking up at the sniper who is still standing nearest to them, having followed Leon down the stairs. “He's going to take you outside. You are not going to scream unless he tells you it's okay.”

Ben also looks up at Piers with the same uncanny gaze that speaks to the sort of calculations he's making in his little head. Chris knows that's not an expression he ever had at that age. Piers offers a hand, and, after a moment, Ben takes it and nods in agreement with Leon's terms. 

“Good,” Leon says. He touches Ben's chin briefly – another one of those telling signs that these are not experiments to Leon. These are children and he's attached. 

“Be brave,” Leon tells him and gets up. Piers and Ben head back out of the hallway and toward the stairwell as if most of the BSAA and DSO hadn't been ready to put the kid down not five minutes ago. 

Chris stares after them longer than he should. 

“Let's get this show on the road,” Leon says, and when Chris looks back toward him, he knows that Leon saw him watching. 

The atmosphere never gets easy, but it's true that the worst of it surrounded Ben. Leon brings the other children out, a litany of names that Chris tries to learn and can't just yet because the only name in his mind is “Ben.” Each of the kids clings to Leon in the same way at first, their fear obvious. Leon hands them off in pairs to BSAA and DSO operatives, and time and time again, they put their trust in what Leon is telling them. 

Chris searches each one of those little faces for any other obvious signs of Leon. He wonders if anyone else is doing the same. 

Jill taps Chris on the elbow when Leon is most but not all of the way done with the kids. Chris looks back at her and she tilts her head back, indicating that they should leave. He realizes that she wants to make sure they're not going to end up looking after any of these kids and also that she doesn't want them to be the last two left alone downstairs with Leon.

Chris relents. 

He obediently follows after Jill, glancing back once at where Leon is still handing off kids. For just a second, Leon's gaze finds his again. Chris hopes so fucking much that Leon doesn't hate him. Leon's expression is inscrutable to him.

He's imagined the thousand different ways he needs to apologize to Leon, but it's strange to think that, now that Leon is back and safe, Chris has no idea when he's going to be allowed to interact with him again. 

…

Leon is the last to disembark the flight. He's starting to feel tired now that the adrenaline is over.

He still has a perpetual eye on each of the kids, but they've settled since they've realized that they're all together and Leon is still with them. They'd been excited for the flight in a way that Leon thinks oddly helped. The team is still wary, but they're obviously starting to understand Leon's point: the longer you're with the kids, the more they seem like kids. 

Leon is seated at the front of the plane with the DSO agents. Chris is at the back with Jill, and Leon suspects that's purposeful. 

Now that there's nothing for Leon to do, not constantly seeking out Chris has become a chore. He can't imagine what this ordeal has been like for Chris, who is a consummate man of action. And it's strange because so much of his confinement had been about Chris who hadn't been there at all. Chris' kid, Chris' nemesis. A hunger for Chris that Leon can't deny isn't entirely gone and still scares him a little. 

Chris Redfield is the person who's mostly likely to understand what he went through. 

And this part is a bit stupid, but Leon wants Chris to be okay with Ben. He wants all of them to be okay with Ben, but with Chris, it matters a little bit more. He wants Chris' understanding that Ben is not a monster. Wesker might have engineered Ben's making, but Ben isn't Wesker's. He's Leon's. And possibly Chris' if Chris can deal. Leon wants Chris to be able to deal. 

But, in the end, he knows that if Chris can't, Leon will be okay. He's gotten through enough shit on his own.

Leon heads off of the plane, feeling as if he's one wrong step away from just collapsing entirely. He's halfway between the plane and the entrance to BSAA headquarters when someone shouts his name and runs toward him. 

Leon doesn't realize it's Claire until she's nearly on top of him. He's belatedly amused, because it's very clear that the BSAA wanted her to wait until they were all inside. But Claire comes anyway and wraps her arms tightly around Leon, holding him to her. 

Leon wraps an arm around her in return and leans into her, letting himself be held. 

“You're going to get in trouble,” he murmurs. 

“Forget 'em,” Claire says. She tightens her hold on him for another second, her grip nearly painful, before she pulls away to look up at him. 

“You look like shit,” she tells him, and Leon snorts. 

“Jesus, Claire, I was just kidnapped for nearly a year. I'm not sure you're allowed to tell me that.”

Claire looks him over and shakes her head.

“I'm going to get you a burger, okay?” she says. “And you're going to eat. And whatever else I bring back for you because I know no one else is going to think about it.” That's probably not fair to medical, but Leon isn't about to argue. 

“All right,” he agrees. 

They head toward the BSAA together, Claire perhaps a little closer than she would normally be. Leon feels a bit more like himself with her by his side. She grounds him in a funny way – maybe because they started out on this all together, and she's the only person who's really seen the Leon of before and the Leon of after. 

He also guesses that she might understand how truly fucked up the last 10 months have been without judging him or pitying him. She'd probably just get it, even with Chris' tangled involvement. Somehow, Leon suspects she's not going to be a part of the debriefing, though. He wonders how much she knows to begin with. Probably not much, he'd guess, although it is a wonder what she can get out of people when she's dedicated. 

“Can you do me a favor?” he asks before they reach the doors. 

“You want a shake?” she asks, and he can't help but smile faintly.

“There'll be a boatload of kids in medical,” Leon says. “When I go to debrief, can you keep an eye on them? Come and get me if anything goes wrong?”

“All right,” Claire agrees with such ease that Leon could kiss her.

“They're like Sherry,” he tags on after a moment. She looks up at him, pauses, but then nods again. It's just that simple with her. 

Inside the doors, Hunnigan is waiting – the rule follower who didn't burst outside. She smiles at Leon as if nervous. 

“Leon,” she says, and maybe she sounds a little choked up. 

“What, did you miss me? Permission granted for one hug,” he teases her, opening his arms. She does indeed step in to hug him. 

He wants to be able to give into the normalcy of returning from a mission – medical, debriefing, the lists of things to check off. But medical suddenly is intimidating in a way that he's never encountered before. 

The smallest of mercies is that he's taken into a private area. He's not too worried about the kids for this part – they're alarmingly accustomed to being poked and prodded by researchers, so this is probably when they'll be most well-behaved for the BSAA's best and brightest. It also helps to know that Claire is in there now with them.

He doesn't know the two doctors who come in to examine him and do his bloodwork and discuss his “infection.” He thinks that helps. 

He wants, badly but quietly, for there to just be another injection that will flip everything back to what it was. But it's not that simple, because why should it be? Barring surgery, he's apparently stuck with everything that Wesker gave him – the ability to procreate and carry an embryo infused with the virus paired with states of heightened libido and strong bonding with sexual partners. 

Leon thinks that being able to crawl under a rock and die at those words would be really quite nice. He wonders how Chris reacted to them – he wonders if Chris is really dealing with any “side effects.” 

Other than that, lucky him, he's considered to be in good health despite losing some muscle mass during his confinement and some general malnutrition and dehydration. 

When he's done, he's able to take a shower, though, and given some regular clothes and shoes. When he heads out of medical, he's also presented with the food that Claire blackmailed someone into getting him.

And then it's, “After you, Agent Kennedy,” and he's escorted into a room with a DSO agent and a high-ranking BSAA member to go over every sordid, fucking awful thing that happened to him over the last 10 months while two separate organizations break down his trauma into data they can use to stop future attacks. 

When he's done, he half wishes he smoked or something, because it would be a relief to have had something else to focus on or do with his hands. His voice is hoarse after solid hours of talking. 

“There's just one last thing,” the BSAA rep says as she shuffles through the mountains of paperwork that is undoubtedly going to take years to review. 

“Hrm?” Leon responds.

“We do need to know if you're intending to press charges against BSAA Captain Chris Redfield,” she says. His interviewers must have been chosen for their ability to remain unflappable in unusual situations, but she does seem a bit embarrassed by this question, and Leon wonders why exactly that is.

“What?” he asks stupidly.

“Captain Redfield,” she says again, her own words uncertain. “Because of the assault during your initial abduction.” 

For the first time, Leon feels as if his brain is genuinely running a pace behind everyone else's. He looks between the two agents. 

“No,” Leon says, his answer belying some of his confusion. “Of course not. Is that why everyone's been making sure that he's not within breathing distance of me?” 

The silence is answer enough. Jesus. Leon gets it, but also he doesn't. He and Chris have been in this for a long time, and he can't believe that anyone would think that Chris would have enjoyed anything that had happened.

“So,” Leon says, drumming his fingers on the table, “am I allowed to see him then?”

Another awkward pause, and then the answer comes: “Well, yes, but we require observation given the way your viruses react to one another.”

Leon tries, and fails, to keep himself from blushing. He can feel the red burning down his neck. 

“Understood,” Leon says, as if he hadn't just been told the entire BSAA and DSO is waiting to see if he and Chris are going to fuck again. 

He's left alone in that little room after the agents leave, presumably, to get Chris. Leon can't help himself: being in the room by himself makes him nervous and he barely resists the urge to start pacing again. He has to remind himself that if he asks, he would probably be allowed to leave. 

Still, he stands, needing some kind of movement.

The door opens behind him.

Leon turns and there's Chris. 

Leon's pulse picks up in a way he doesn't entirely trust. Part of him knows it's the virus in his body. But he can't pretend that's all of it. He's known Chris awhile, and he knows Chris is a good man, dedicated to making the world a better place. He's not being fooled into thinking Chris is something he's not. And, honestly, Leon has always found Chris attractive, so there's nothing particularly new there either. He wonders if it's different for Chris – if maybe the virus _is_ forcing Chris into feeling and seeing things about Leon that simply weren't there before. The thought makes Leon feel a little sick.

“Hey,” Leon says.

“Hey,” Chris answers. 

They look at each other for a moment, and Leon can't forget that there's a team of people watching them through the one-way mirror. A hell of a way to figure out how to have a conversation on whether Chris has deep regrets about their accidental coupling and whether Chris thinks their kid is a kind of monster. 

“You okay?” Leon tries. 

Chris finally meets his eyes, and he looks surprised at the question. 

“Yeah?” he says. “I mean, why wouldn't I be?” 

Leon snorts. 

“Well, I mean, Wesker did spend a year plotting on how best to torment you,” Leon says, leaning against the wall. 

“He took _you_ ,” Chris points out, sounding like he's arguing.

“He took _me_ because he knew it would drive you crazy not to be able to just step in and play the hero,” Leon says, a little surprised that Chris doesn't seem to _understand_ this. “He wanted you to feel guilty.”

Chris looks back at the floor, and Leon sees that, obviously, Wesker succeeded. 

“Christ, Redfield,” Leon breathes. “I'm not having a competition with you over who had it worse. I did, all right? I win. But can we all drop this act that you had some great fuck and then a walk in the park for the last 10 months?”

Chris' gaze snaps to his at the word “fuck,” clearly surprised that Leon is talking about so crassly.

“Right?” Leon presses. “Was any of that your choice? Or how you would have chosen to do it? Did you want to fuck me in an abandoned Umbrella facility while Wesker watched? That thought been keeping you warm at night? You plan any of it with Wesker? Because then we could have a different conversation. But I'm guessing, Chris, that you've beaten yourself up every single hour since that happened because that's not the kind of person you are. That was something Wesker forced to happen because he thought he could degrade us so much that we'd be broken by it. And I'm not interested in playing dead, thanks. So get over yourself and forgive yourself, because we've still got work to do.”

“I'm still sorry, Leon,” Chris says. 

“I know,” Leon answers. “And I accept your apology. But there are other things I need from you more, all right?”

Chris nods, and Leon exhales.

“All right,” Leon agrees. He takes a step across the room and extends a hand to Chris. “We good?”

“We're good, Leon,” Chris promises, and he takes Leon's hand and shakes it.

“Are Captain Redfield and I allowed to play in the same sandbox without supervision then?” Leon asks dryly, looking at the mirror. 

“Welcome back, Leon,” Chris says, the first thing he's said that doesn't seem forced. He's even smiling a little bit. 

“I'm really fucking glad to be back,” Leon says with emphasis. “Thanks for shooting Wesker in the face.”

“Any time,” Chris grins.

…

The first night, they spend there in the BSAA headquarters. By the time Leon is released, all the kids, mercifully, have fallen asleep in the medical wing.

Leon stops in the doorway, tired, and looks in on them. They've taken some of the mattresses off the bedsprings and stacked them next to each other and all 13 of them are piled in against one another. Leon wonders if Wesker had really anticipated that when he'd planned them so close together. He wonders if it's something Wesker wishes he had with the original batch of Wesker siblings. Leon will never know, but he's glad of the way they take care of each other. 

Claire appears at his side.

“Why does that one look like Chris?” she asks – she sounds angry but it's more likely that she's scared.

Leon looks down at her.

“Because half of him is Redfield DNA,” Leon answers evenly. 

“And what's the other half?” she asks, even though she must already know. 

“Kennedy DNA,” Leon answers. Claire leans in and hugs him fiercely again, as if through through that alone, she can protect him from everything that he's already been through. She's maybe the only person in the world that he could really let hold him right now, and he closes his eyes. She doesn't try to say anything – doesn't try to tell him that he's going to be okay or they're going to work through this. She just holds him and for the first time in months, Leon lets go. 

…

Leon couldn't have said what his end plan for the kids was when he made the call to Hunnigan or even when Claire held him his first night back. 

He had known that he was going to have to move mountains to give those a kids a shot at anything remotely normal. Perhaps it was strange, but he hadn't even thought about whether or not he wanted to keep Ben with him. He probably could have been convinced to give him up. If someone had made a valid argument that Ben would benefit most from a stereotypical family and to try and forget everything that had already happened, Leon probably would have gone for that. He would have gone back to his job and watched from afar, same as he had with Sherry. Same with all of the kids.

But when he wakes that first morning back, Ben is in bed with him and holding tight. 

“We're going to stay with you, right?” Ben whispers and, without thinking, Leon murmurs affirmatively. 

That doesn't mean Leon doesn't have to fight for that to happen. Because he does. There are a lot of discussions about how Leon is still too emotionally compromised to be put in that position. There are discussions about how Leon can't possibly work in the field as much if he is primarily raising 13 kids, and Leon's talents are much better spent in fighting BOWs than raising them. 

It takes a month to hammer out just the basics of a plan when it comes to the kids: President Benford offers up a remote property with several acres of land, which will be the primary housing location for the kids. Their “official” story is that Leon had saved them during a mission and they are all orphans. Leon will be their primary caretaker, but a DSO and BSAA joint commission determines the logistics of their day-to-day lives, from the teachers who come to homeschool them to the researchers “on site” to monitor the growth and well-being of the kids. Leon also knows there's been paperwork drawn up about what the circumstances would have to be for a decision to be made for one of the kids to be put down. The BSAA has the rights to enter the premises at any time to make sure that things are functioning the way they're supposed to, but no decision can be made concerning the kids' welfare without a majority from their commission. 

There isn't a single thing that Leon doesn't worry about, but he is tentatively optimistic about how this is supposed to work. No situation would have been perfect. But they aren't with Wesker or locked up indefinitely or being killed, so Leon will work with what he has. 

Besides, he has been told time and time again that it will only be a few years until they reach maturity. And Claire has already agreed to stay with them for the first year of the new adventure. 

The last pieces of the plan are being put in place when Chris comes back from whatever mission he'd been sent on. They've scarcely talked since their moment in the debriefing room. Chris had been sent out again almost right away – Leon still isn't sure if that wasn't entirely purposeful. And Leon, of course, has been a little busy.

He's distracted enough and accustomed enough to the comings and goings of BSAA soldiers that he doesn't immediately pay attention to the presence in the room with him. It takes a moment or two before he senses someone's gaze on him. The back of his neck prickles, and Leon looks up to see Chris.  
Chris clears his throat a little.

“I heard they're shipping you out tomorrow?” Chris asks. 

“Yeah,” Leon says. “Back to the ol' US of A.” 

Belatedly, he realizes this is the first time they've been together alone since everything started. 

Chris hesitates and then takes a half a step more into the room and toward Leon.

“Leon, look,” Chris says, “I know you said you had no need for my apology, but I am still sorry. I want to know what you actually need from me – am I allowed to visit the house? Or do you want me to steer clear?”

Leon's mouth goes dry. Some part of him wants to ask Chris if Chris wants to be there, but he also can't bear the dragging back-and-forth of their conversations now.

“I think it's pretty clear that Ben shares your DNA,” Leon says. “And he's going to figure that out sooner or later too. If you can deal with that, you can be there. But I need you to know you're going to be able to set aside your shit – your shit with me, your shit with Wesker – for them. For now at least. If you can't, I need you to be out of the way for the next few years.”

Chris pauses and then asks, quietly, “Why do you love him?”

Leon feels defensive at first, as if Chris is accusing him of loving Ben when he shouldn't – which he knows there are a few people who do think that. That this is no different than if Leon had decided that he wanted to start caring for the plaga that had been in chest in Spain. 

But then he realizes that Chris is genuinely curious. So, Leon blows out a breath, his bangs fluttering in front of him for a moment.

“He's a lot of what I imagined you were probably like as a kid,” Leon admits, feeling more vulnerable in this moment than he has in any other with Chris. “He's just … ungodly stubborn. And somehow, most of the time, that's a good thing. They're all the same age, but he's the protector big brother to all the other kids. He used to,” Leon bites back a smile, “he used to scream at Wesker sometimes if Wesker came to get one of the other kids to take them somewhere else and they didn't want to go. He burst that fucker's eardrum at least once. He's so clever – which I guess is maybe how he's not like you – and he's kind, Chris. 

“And when I'm with him, he makes me forget that Wesker was a part of making him. I see the best parts of you,” he pauses and then admits, “and me. But mostly I just see him. And I want to give him a chance to learn who he is, and I want to continue knowing him and see what he's going to do. 

“And it is easiest with him, because he's made of you and me, but it's the same with the other kids, too,” Leon says. “I could tell you stories about any of them from times when they were funny or scared or happy. Definitely every single time they exacerbated Wesker.” Leon shrugs weakly. 

“I got into this because I wanted to protect people from these awful companies that made monsters for their own greed,” Leon says. “And even if I know it's not simple, I can only see the kids as being on the side that needs to be protected.” He hesitates. “Maybe they will be monsters. And I'll put them down then. But right now they're not. We owe them a chance to become something else.”

He realizes he's said a lot, but Chris is still just standing there, quiet. Leon feels a tremor of nerves. 

“Fuck, say something, Chris,” Leon says. 

“Yeah, okay,” Chris says. “I'd like to come by the house – I'd like to be at the house. As much as you'll let me be there. I'm in, Leon.” 

“Just like that?” Leon asks.

“Yeah,” Chris says. “Just like that.”

“Oh,” Leon says. “All right, then.” He finally feels a little lost for words, and that's when Chris grins at him – the proper Chris Redfield grin that Leon can't help but return. 

“We'll work through it then,” Chris promises and holds out his fist for a fist bump.

But as Leon looks at it, he can't help himself.

“How do you feel?” he asks, barely refraining from tacking on the words _around me._ “I just – I mean, the doctors said that they didn't have a cure for our virus. And they said for me that,” _don't say it, Leon_ , “results in a higher libido and sexual connections.” He wishes he had died in Wesker's lab. “And I was wondering if it, uh, was the same for you.”

Leon can only imagine the shade of red he is. The only redeeming part of this entire mess is that Chris is also flushed. 

“I,” Chris tries to say, stumbling over his words. “Yeah, uh, I think it's the same for me.” 

Leon wishes so much he hadn't brought this up, but he doesn't know how they could have avoided it. His insides go warm with the thought that Chris has likely been thinking of him in the same that he's been thinking of Chris the whole time. And he's still a little scared, because he's had his body used and manipulated so much that Leon doesn't know how to trust himself, particularly with other people. Even now, feeling that glowing attraction for Chris, he remembers Wesker taunting him as he'd taped Leon being fucked into the mattress: _Would you enjoy being_ bred _by him again?_ Because the answer then, and the answer still is, yes, and that answer makes Leon feel out of control and sick.

“I feel safe with you, Chris,” Leon manages to say. “And that was true even before this fucked-up virus told me it was. The trust was always there. All the virus did, I guess, was kind of amplify anything that was already there.” 

"Same,” Chris says. “Everything's just louder. But it's nothing I don't have a handle on now.” 

Leon nods. And then because they're this far in: “Would _you_ want it to happen again? Not like that, I mean. Like, something more normal. Like a bed at least. And no one else.” It's amazing how this is only the second most awkward moment in this entire conversation. 

Chris hesitates. 

“Sorry, it was stupid,” Leon says instantly, realizing the impossible position he's put Chris in. “I just figured it was good to clear--” 

“I would,” Chris says in a low voice. 

“What?” Leon asks. 

"I would,” Chris repeats. “If it's something you were sure you wanted, Leon. And it's not just a virus in you talking to a virus in me.” He swallows. “I've always found you attractive, Leon. I've wanted you for a long time.” 

“Oh,” Leon says. He feels warm all over, and he knows at least part of this is exactly what Chris said: the virus in him talking to the virus in Chris. It makes him feel loopy and risky, but both he and Chris are watching for that right now. They're careful with it. They're careful with each other, and so maybe that's why it's okay anyway. 

“I'd,” Leon struggles to find his voice. “I'd like to be close to you again. Not now. Not yet. I – can't. But again. Sometime. I'd like to do it right.” 

“I want to do it right,” Chris says with something akin to desperation and dedication in his voice. 

Leon smiles faintly, because he can only imagine the lengths Chris Redfield is going to to in order to accomplish that. 

Slowly and perhaps even a little shyly, Chris reaches out and skims his knuckles along Leon's jaw. 

“You could kiss me now,” Leon says with a forced lightness, “if you want.” 

Chris nods and leans in with the same carefulness even though Leon can feel the heat coming off him in waves. He keeps his hand at the side of Leon's face and brushes their lips lightly together. It sends a jolt of electricity throughout Leon's body. He wants. 

Chris is still measured, though. He kisses Leon slowly, just lips pressed warmly together for a moment, before Leon parts his. He flicks his tongue out to touch Chris' lower lip – and he can see the way Chris' eyes go almost all black. 

Chris presses in and kisses him harder, mouth slated against Leon's, Leon licking desperately into Chris now that the line has been crossed again. Chris' hand never leaves Leon's face, and he keeps the other one at his side. After a few minutes, Leon breathless and overheated, murmurs, “Stop.” 

And Chris does. He pulls away right away, looking alarmed. 

“I'm sorry,” he says hastily. “Are you okay?” 

“Are you in control?” Leon asks. 

“Yes,” Chris answers immediately. “Yes, I promise, Leon.” 

“If I wanted to walk out the door right now, you'd let me?” 

“Yes,” Chis repeats again, with emphasis. 

“Great,” Leon answers with a light grin. He can practically feel Chris processing what just happened – the test that Leon put both of them through, which they apparently passed. 

“Don't forget it then,” Leon murmurs. He leans in to kiss Chris again and then walks past him, heading out the door. 

“See you at the house, Redfield,” he tosses over his shoulder. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> While that is a wrap on this part, please rest assured that there is most coming in this series. I have two additional parts written right now but would also love to hear what you would like to see more of.


End file.
